Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies

The report identifies a systemic 'women's health gap' driven by male-centric science, data omissions, and suboptimal care delivery, noting that women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men. It estimates that addressing these disparities would add an average of seven healthy days per woman annually and generate a global GDP increase of $1 trillion by 2040. Key recommendations include investing in women-centric R&D, mandating sex-disaggregated data, and implementing gender-responsive workplace and healthcare policies.

• Women spend 25% more of their lives in debilitating health compared to men, with an average of nine years spent in poor health.
• Closing the women's health gap could potentially boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040, with the largest impact coming from reducing health conditions, which could add up to $400 billion to economic productivity.
• Medical research has historically defaulted to the male body, leading to a situation where 64% of interventions with available sex-disaggregated data put women at a disadvantage due to lower efficacy, lack of access, or both.
• There are significant data gaps in women's health; for example, the WHO estimates endometriosis prevalence at 10% of women of reproductive age, while the Global Burden of Disease estimates it at only 1–2%.
• Women face systemic barriers in care delivery, including being seven times more likely than men to have a heart condition misdiagnosed or be discharged during a heart attack.
• Investment in women's health is historically low; for instance, as of 2015, there were five times more scientific studies on erectile dysfunction than on premenstrual syndrome.
• The market potential for treatments for endometriosis and menopause is estimated at $180–220 billion and $120–230 billion globally, respectively.
• Addressing the women's health gap is projected to have a positive return on investment, with approximately $3 of economic growth for every $1 invested globally.
• Ten specific conditions, including premenstrual syndrome (PMS), depressive symptoms, and migraines, account for more than 50% of the potential economic impact of closing the health gap.
• In the United States, women report total adverse events from approved medicines 52% more frequently than men, and products are 3.5 times more likely to be removed from the market due to safety risks in women than in men.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women’s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women’s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies |date=January 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women’s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024closing, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A \$1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women’s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }